Browsing by Author "Issabeigloo, Babak"

The goal of this thesis is to create an anti-bullying model with primary school children. The core idea of the model is to narrow the inequality between the bully and his victim and to encourage students to stand up for themselves when facing bullying. Previous research has offered similar anti-bullying models but the model I have developed, The Verbal Self-Defence Model, differs from other approaches especially due to its humoristic nature. Because the humoristic approach to bullying has not been previously studied, I chose Grounded Theory as my method. I carried out a standardised preparatory questionnaire to all sixth graders in a school in Helsinki of which a group of 15 students were selected to the group interviews. I conducted the group interviews in three parts, each of which lasted 45 minutes. I collected the data by open sampling after which I studied the literature on the subject while simultaneously analysing the interviews. In the interviews the sixth graders and I investigated what kinds of humoristic answers can be used in bullying situations. We ended up with five categories after which the amount of categories reached its saturation point. One thing the interviews revealed was that a part of students do not talk back to their bullies because they do not want to give the bully the satisfaction by being provoked. The literature review revealed that The Verbal Self-Defence Model includes elements from three different models in which the ability of the victim to stand up for himself is strengthened yet offering something new due to its humoristic approach. From the literature I also found support for my hypothesis that witty comments and humour might calm the bully by changing the balance of power and the frame of interpretation. The five categories of verbal self-defence are: comeback, self-defence, laughing at yourself, sarcasm and random comeback. Students can apply these categories when practicing the skills of humorous self-defence. These skills can be practiced, starting from the first grade, by playing the four adaptations of the serving game, each having a different difficulty level. Before the serving game, a five-point bulletin is presented to the children whose aim is to prevent the forming of inequality of power between students.